Sedici Animali – designer puzzles for arty tots

My preschooler is a puzzle fiend. He can put together a jigsaw meant for a kid twice his age in minutes. Which means our house is overflowing with puzzles that have been mastered and are now rejected as “too easy mum”.

Not so the Sedici Animali Wooden Puzzle. It’s only 16 pieces but I think this one will challenge even my mini-Einstein. Kids and toddlers who aren’t quite up to figuring how the animals fit together in the puzzle box can use them as a Noah’s Ark of sorts. Or stack them high in an animal-themed Jenga. The play possibilities are endless.

The genuinely beautiful puzzle, made from oak and housed in a silk-screened wooden box, is an Enzo Mari original and a bona fide collector’s item. The Italian designer originally crafted Sedici Animali back in 1957 but it was recently relaunched, with only 300 of the individually-numbered puzzles made each year.

Of course, all this designer goodness and intellectual stimulation doesn’t come cheap. Expect to pay C$599 (that’s Canadian dollars to you) plus delivery from wondrous online boutique Inhabit. Expensive? Yes. But what a wonderful heirloom piece or christening gift for a new arrival if you have a little cash to splash.